Being black in America is tough

Recently, someone spray painted the “n” word across the gate to LaBron James’ Brentwood home in LA.  In a news conference James made some statements that will surely be criticized. The basis for the criticism will be the fact that James has a net worth of approximately $300 million dollars. 

"Just shows that racism will always be a part of the world, part of America. Hate in America, especially for African-Americans, is living every day. It is hidden most days. It is alive every single day…..No matter how much money you have, how famous you are, how much people admire you, being black in America is tough."  LaBron James

Some people will resent that no matter who the person is or what they have accomplished.  In fact, it’s much like racism, itself.  The problem is that people have a selfish bent to life. It’s a heart thing, not a color or money issue.  It is an “I want to be richer than you” attitude. It is an “I want to be more important than you” attitude.  So, in order to achieve that, I will do my best to keep you down….on a lower value scale than I perceive myself to occupy.  If I can exploit the color of our skin to my advantage, I will.  It certainly isn’t just an American thing…it is all over the world, and that’s because it is a heart issue.  We see it in the various cast systems in parts of the world.  I have seen it on every continent I have been on, and in every country.  The human heart, without a fundamental change, is brutally selfish.  Don’t criticize LaBron on the basis of his net worth…that in itself exposes your selfishness. I don’t begrudge his wealth or his fame. I wouldn’t disagree with LaBron’s statement that being black in America is tough, I’d just expand it to:  “Being alive in a world filled with people who have selfish hearts is tough.”

The Gatekeeper